Container



Oct. 20, 1942. SEBELL I I 2,299,503

CONTAINER Fi led Jan. 8 1940 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Fig.5.

' \nvenfof. Hurry SebeH Patented Oct. 20, 1942 CONTAINER Harry Sebell, Newton, Mass., assignor of one-half to Arthur H. Parker, Lexington, Mass.

Application January 8, .1940, Serial No. 312,807

2 Claims.

This invention relates to containers, such as are adapted for packaging food products and the like, which are formed with a pouring opening in one end thereof and a removable and replaceable closure for the pouring opening.

One object of the invention is to provide a container of this type in which the pouring opening is hermetically sealed when the container is filled and in which the removable closure is in the form of a cap provided with a skirt that has a tight friction fit with a curb that surrounds the pouring opening so that when the can or container has been opened, the replacing of the closure over the pouring opening provides a substantially tight seal for the can.

In order to give an understanding of the invention, I have illustrated in the drawings some selected embodiments thereof which will now be described after which the novel features will be pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawings:

Fig. l is a sectional view through the upper part of a can or container showing one embodiment of the invention.

Fig. 2 is a sectional view illustrating the manner in which the can shown in Fig. 1 may be opened.

Fig. 3 is a view of a key which may be used for opening the can.

Fig. 4 is a view of the blank from which the sealing member is formed.

Fig. 5 illustrates the can after it has been opened and the sealing member has been discarded, and showing how the closure member may be used for opening or closing the pouring opening.

Fig. 6 is a sectional view through the upper part of a can showing another embodiment of the invention.

Fig. '7 is a similar sectional view but showing the closure opened and illustrating the operation of removing the inner seal.

Fig. 8 is a plan view of the inner sealing member before the key is Welded thereto.

Fig. 9 is a plan view of the inner sealing member with the opening key attached.

In Figs. 1 to 5, 24 indicates the body of the can or container and 25 indicates the can end member which is seamed to the body 24 by the lock seam 26 as usual.

Ifhe can end 25 is provided with the pouring opening 21 which is surrounded by an upstandingcurb 2B the inner edge of the material from which the curb is made being bent backwardly on itself to form the depending skirt 29. in-

dicates a closure for the pouring opening which closure is formed with the depending peripheral skirt 3| which encircles the curb 28 and fits the latter with a friction fit. This closure 30 is formed with a tab 32 which is spot-welded tothe can end as shown at 33, said tab forming a hinge for the cap closure. The lower edge of the skirt 3| of the cap closure is provided with a bead 34.

In this embodiment of the invention, the hermetic seal for the pouring opening 21 is formed by an inner sealing member 35 in the form of a plug adapted to fit into the skirt 29, but which is removable from said pouring opening. The plug is formed with an upstanding peripheral wall 15 which lies within and frictionally fits the skirt 29, said peripheral wall 15 being provided at its upper edge with a flange 36 which overlies the upper edge of the curb 28 and the hermetic seal is provided by a sealing gasket 31 located between the flange 36 and the top edge of the curb 28. I have herein shown the sealing member 35 as being formed with the annular bead 38 which underlies to a slight extent the lower edge of the skirt 29, said bead serving as an additional means for securing the sealing member 35 in place. This sealing member is formed with two lines of weakness 39 which may be in the form of score lines. These lines of weakness define a tear strip 43 and extend from the periphery of the sealing member inwardly to a point somewhat beyond the center thereof, as shown in Fig. 4, which is a plan view of the sealing member. The sealing member is also formed with a tab 40 which extends outwardly from the periphery thereof in line with and forming a continuation of the tear strip. In fact, the edges 4| of the tab 40 are in line with the two lines of weakness 39.

' This tab and these lines of weakness provide the means for removing the sealing member when the can is to be opened. It will be understood, of course, that the can comes into the purchasers hands in the condition shown in full lines, Fig. 1, that is, with the pouring opening J opening 21 hermeticaly sealed removable sealing member 35 and with the cap closure 30 in its closed position. To open the can, the cap closure 30 is pried loose from the curb 28, thereby exposing the sealing member, as shown in Fig. 2. The tab 40 is folded over into the position shown in Fig. 1 when the cam is being sealed, so that when the closure cap 30 is opened up into the position shown in Fig. 2, this tab 40 will be exposed. By applying a pulling force on the tab 4!], the

sealing member Will be torn along the lines of Weakness 39, and when the tearing has proceeded to a point beyond the center of the inner seal, the latter will be freed from the pouring opening so that it can be readily removed bodily therefrom. The can is then opened for the discharge of part or all of its contents. When the desired amount has been taken out of the can, then the closure member 30 may be swung backwardly into its closed position in which it has a friction fit with the curb 28, thereby tightly sealing the can again.

It is intended that the inner seal 55 will be thrown away or discarded as soon as it has been removed from the pouring opening,

While the pulling force on the tab 49] for re moving the inner sealing member may be applied in any desired way, yet I propose to provide each can with a key member 52 by which the tear strip 43 may be torn from the inner seal. This key member is shown as formed from wire and is provided with a head M and with a stem 45, the latter having notches or serrations 56. The tab 45 is provided with an aperture 4'! of a size to receive the stem 45.

The key may be used by first bending the tab 45 into the position shown in Fig. 8 and then inserting the stem of the key through the aperture 41. The closure member is formed with a pocket or recess 58 to receive the lower end of the stem 45, and when the lower end of the key has been placed in the pocket 48, as shown in Fig. 2, a force applied to the head 45 in the direction of the arrow, Fig. 2, will tear the tear strip from the sealing member 35 along the lines of weakness.

In order to facilitate the start of the tearing operation, I may provide the peripheral portion of the inner sealing member 35 with slots 49 at the outer ends of the lines of weakness. The presence of such slits facilitate the initiating of the tearing operation.

The key 42 may be placed within the inner seal 35 when the can is being made so that when the closure cap 35 is swung into the open position, this key 42 will be available for use to remove the inner sealing member 35.

In Figs. 6 to 9, I have illustrated another and a preferred embodiment of the invention which in some respects is similar to the embodiment shown in Figs. 1 to 5. In the preferred construction shown in Figs 6 to 9, the can body 55 is provided with the can end which is seamed thereto by the lock seam 52. The can end 5|! has the pouring opening formed therein which is surrounded by the upstanding curb 52, the material from which the curb is formed being bent backwardly to form the depending skirt 54 lying within the curb.

55 is a closure cap which is provided with the peripheral skirt 56 that has a tight friction fit with the curb 53, said cap being provided with a tab 5l' which is spot-welded or otherwise secured to the can end, as shown at 58. This tab 51 constitutes a hinge for the closure 55 when the can is opened. The pouring opening is sealed by means of an inner sealing member 59 which is quite similar to the sealing member 35 shown in Fig. 1. This sealing member 59 is in the form of a plug which fits tightly within the pouring opening and is provided with a peripheral wall 60 fitting tightly within the skirt 54, the upper edge of the wall 60 terminating in a lip 5i which overlies the curb 53. The sealing member is also provided at its lower edge with the bead G2 which underlies slightly the lower edge of the skirt 56 as above described with reference to the sealing member 35.

The tight or hermetic seal is provided by means of a sealing gasket 63 between the fiange 68 and the top of the curb 53.

The bottom of the inner seal 55 is provided with a U-shaped line of weakness 54 which defines a tear strip 55, said tear strip extending from the bead 62 inwardly toward the center of the sealing member.

Te remove the sealing member 59 when it is desired to first open the can, there is provided a key member 65 which is shaped to present a portion 61 that overlies the tear-out strip 55 and is spot-welded thereto at 68. This key has the handle portionlii] which is offset from the portion 67 but extends parallel thereto. The length and shape of the key is such that it is received within the peripheral wall 50 of the sealing member 59 as shown in Fig. 6.

The inner sealing member 59 fits the pouring opening with a tight frictional fit and the bead 62 serves to lock securely the sealing member within the pouring opening and to retain the sealing member therein even though an internal pressure should develop within the can,

When it is desired to open the can, the closure cap 55 will be pried loose from the curb 53 and swung backwardly about the hinge member 51, as shown in Fig. 7. The closure cap 55 is provided with the head 15 under which the end of a suitable implement may be placed for prying the closure off from the curb 53.

After the closure cap has been opened, then the handle 59 of the key is grasped and an upward pulling force is applied thereto. Since the portion 6'! of the key is spot-welded to the end of the tear strip 64, such upward pulling force applied to the handle 69 of the key will tear the tear strip loose from the sealing member 59 along the line of weakness 65.

The continued swinging movement of the handle to and beyond the position shown in Fig. '7 will serve to withdraw the portion of the bead 62 at the end of the key from its engagement with the skirt 54 and the presence of the opening caused by the tearing out of the tear strip allows the sealing member to contract sufiiciently so that said sealing member can be readily lifted out of the pouring opening by means of the key.

It is intended that this sealing member with its attached key will be discarded or thrown away after it has been removed.

After the can is opened, then some or all of the contents of the can may be poured or dipped from the pouring opening, and if only a portion of the contents of the can are to be used at any time, then the can may be tightly sealed again by simply swinging the closure cap 55 back onto the curb 53. The tight frictional fit between the skirt 56 of the cap and said curb 53 provides an effective seal for the can after it has once been opened, which is sufficient to preserve the contents of the can and to prevent any deterioration thereof.

I claim:

1. A container comprising a body portion, an end member permanently secured thereto, said end member having a pouring opening surrounded by an upstanding curb, a closure member for said pouring opening having a peripheral depending skirt which encircles and frictionally fits said curb, a sealin disk having an upstanding peripheral wall tightly fitting within the upstanding curb of the pouring opening and sealing the latter, said disk having a tear-out portion extending from said upstanding wall toward the center thereof and defined by a U-shaped line of weakness having its ends terminating in spaced relation adjacent the upstanding wall, and a key member having a portion secured to the tear-out portion and extending the length thereof, and also having a handle portion offset from the other portion of the key, said key providing means to tear the tear-out portion from the disk, thereby loosening the latter in the pouring opening so that it can be removed.

2. A container comprising a body portion, an end member permanently secured thereto, said end member having a pouring opening surrounded by an upstanding curb, a closure member for said pouring opening having a peripheral depending skirt which encircles and frictionally fits said curb, a sealing plug located within the pouring opening and sealing the latter, said plug having an upstanding peripheral wall which is situated within and frictionally fits the upstanding curb, said upstandin wall being formed at its lower portion with a bead which partially underlies the curb, said plug being provided with a tear-out portion extending from said upstanding wall toward the center thereof and defined by a U-shaped line of weakness having its ends terminating in spaced relation adjacent the upstanding wall, and a key member having a portion secured to the tear-out portion of the plug and extending the length thereof, said key member extending beyond the tear-out portion and providing means to tear said tear-out portion from the plug thereby loosening the latter in the pouring opening sufiiciently so that it can be removed therefrom.

HARRY SEBELL. 

